


It Will Come Back

by danteaxel (tamikotheneko)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, But there's still animagi or something, Disabled Character, Disabled Remus Lupin, M/M, Service dog padfoot, don't logic this too hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:40:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamikotheneko/pseuds/danteaxel
Summary: Remus brings home a service dog called Padfoot. Then suddenly he's in over his head.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Bringing Home Padfoot

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wife for coming up with this idea with me and my friend's service dog for being my original inspiration.

It was a rainy day when Remus brought home his service dog. He hadn't picked a dog that reminded him of his old friend on purpose, but through some strange compulsion that he didn't fully understand. This dog had just seemed right. He hoped the dog agreed.

After dinner for the both of them, which Remus ate hunched over the stove while watching Padfoot enthusiastically eat his own dinner, Remus sat on his bed, surveying the studio apartment that was now home to double the inhabitants. Padfoot seemed to command his attention though, nosing at his hand and looking up at him with big, dark eyes that seemed so much like his old friend’s.

Remus considered his new companion through tired, half lidded eyes, absentmindedly stroking the dog’s muzzle. Padfoot had scarcely left his side since the moment Remus had looked at him. He wondered, had he really chosen Padfoot, or had Padfoot chosen him?

“Padfoot, up.” Remus felt heavy with exhaustion already though it was only 5:30. His trip to pick up Padfoot had left him, as he had known it would, weary. It must have been the first time in weeks he had left the house. Every bone and muscle in him ached, and he closed his eyes as he felt the gentle dip of the bed under his new friend’s weight. Padfoot settled in next to him, curling up against Remus’ stomach as he turned onto his side. Tentatively, Remus settled an arm over Padfoot’s back, and sleepily smiled as he felt the dog fully relax. 

This became their nightly routine; falling asleep together in Remus’ cramped bed. At therapy sessions, he reported a decline in his nightmares, and to his doctors he happily confirmed that he was indeed sleeping better and longer. Padfoot became a constant, positive influence in Remus’ life. 

And then one day he woke up and Padfoot wasn’t beside him, huffing for breakfast. 

\---

“Padfoot?” Remus could hear the panic mounting in his voice as he called for his companion. Padfoot was always by his side, or never far. And he always, ALWAYS, came when called. Remus swung out of bed too fast, flinched in pain as his joints creaked, and glanced around his small apartment. A sheet hung suspended from the ceiling between the kitchen and the bedroom, but light crept through. Remus froze. Someone was in his apartment. And they probably had Padfoot.


	2. The Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious intruder swings full dong in Remus' kitchen.

Remus peeked through the curtain. He saw the back of a person, standing hunched over every one of Remus’ old occult texts at his kitchen counter. Shockingly, he believed the person was.... Completely nude. He figured they had nowhere to stash a weapon, and swung aside the curtain with much more confidence than he felt.   
Grabbing a knife from the block on the bit of counter by the doorway, he brandished it at the stranger, who had now whipped around to face him with a face nearly as terrified as Remus felt himself. 

“Where the fuck is Padfoot?” He demanded, and the nude intruder seemed torn between putting his hands in the air as a gesture of his perceived innocence and lowering them to cover himself. 

“Okay, you won’t believe this if I tell you,” the stranger hoarsely replied, and by voice instead of face Remus recognized who stood before him.

“Sirius?” He nearly whispered, unable to believe, as Sirius had said, what was happening. “What the fuck. What the fuck?” He lowered the knife to his side slowly, his face a mask of incredulity. “What have you done with my dog?” Remus looked around as though Padfoot may materialize in the kitchen beside the two of them any moment. 

“This is going to sound crazy, because it is crazy. You may want to sit down. Oh, and also can I have something to cover up with? I promise Padfoot is safe.” His voice was soft and serious for once, much more mature than when Remus had heard him last when they were 17. He sounded absolutely genuine, like he knew how much Padfoot meant to Remus and maybe even cared about him too.

Remus only relaxed marginally at hearing that news, but he still nodded and returned the knife to the block so that he could fetch a pair of sweatpants for Sirius. His dark haired friend put them on, keeping them slung low on his hips, and Remus swallowed hard. If he hadn’t been so worried about his dog, he would have been thinking about his old schoolboy crush and how he had never quite extinguished the ember that burned in his stomach for his friend. Sirius moved around as though he knew the kitchen by heart, putting on coffee as Remus took a cautious seat at the table. His kitchen, and actually his entire apartment, was humble. A small table could be placed out or doubled over and pushed against the wall, accompanied by two small folding chairs. Counters spanned the lengths of both long walls,except where the doorway opened to the rest of the space, and his sink and fridge stood at the other end of the kitchen. His gas stove and oven took nearly a third of the counter on one side. He did not have a dishwasher. It was a pathetically small space for a grown man, and the two of them sharing it made for bumping shoulders and brushed elbows as Remus took his seat. 

As he watched Sirius, however, he noticed how the dark haired man moved like smoke on water around the kitchen. Remus felt his anxiety still boiling within him as he watched Sirius pour two mugs of steaming coffee, and he was grateful when Sirius finally took a seat opposite from him, their knees knocking as he did. 

“So. Listen.” Sirius inhaled deeply. “Padfoot? Your service dog? Me.” Although he tried to sound nonchalant, Remus could sense that underneath Sirius was as much of an anxious twisted mess as he was. That leant itself to Remus believing him. 

He opened his mouth, a million questions bubbling up, and Sirius held up a hand and sipped his coffee. 

“Don’t talk yet. I got in some… trouble. Shockingly enough. And I found this, well we can call it a spell, to become an animal. It was supposed to be at will, but I obviously fucked that part up. So for the past- what is it, 10 years? I’ve been a dog, hiding from the law and becoming a service animal. Figured I may as well do something productive with my life, and I got James to fudge some paperwork so I could get into the program. Then I had him get Lily to tell you about the service dog place, and finally, I made sure you would bring me home.” Sirius grew excited while talking about his plan, his old childlike excitement shining through. 

“Twelve,” Remus croaked, unable to process what he had just been told fully.

“What?”

“Twelve years. It’s been twelve years.” 

“Oh,” Sirius sipped his coffee again. Remus’ still sat untouched. “No comment on the rest of my tale?” 

“Prove it.”

“I don’t know if I can turn back human again if I do. I don’t even know how this happened. I thought I was stuck that way forever.”

“Prove it,” Remus repeated. 

“Fine, fuck you then.” 

Sirius stood up and suddenly he was gone, as though he had just blinked out of existence. In his place stood his familiar companion, Padfoot. Jaw dropped, eyes wide with disbelief, he reached out and petted his dog’s face. He felt fur under his fingertips and Padfoot huffed in irritation. 

“Fine, fine, I believe you.” Remus shook his head. As though he needed more stress in his life. He sighed, and ran his hand over Padfoot’s head. “So let’s figure out how to get that under control.” He could sense Sirius’ relief.


	3. Sexy Research Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big sexy moment with a sprinkle of awkward Remus. And drama for dessert!

“This is so weird,” Remus muttered to himself, flipping through page after page of occult books that all looked similar to the one Sirius had described finding. 

“Not really, it was twelve years ago so I did anticipate a little trouble pinning down the exact text.” Sirius replied without looking up from his own book. At some point he had changed back to human while Remus had been cooking dinner. Padfoot’s bowl sat empty, but two dirty dishes sat in the sink. Remus wished he was more okay with the trade off. He missed his service dog. 

“No, I just mean the general situation.” 

“Oh. Fair enough.” Sirius sat slouched at the kitchen table in one of Remus’ old t shirts and the same pair of ratty sweatpants he had now claimed as his own. It had been weeks since Sirius had made his first appearance, and they both felt as though they hadn’t made any progress. 

“So.” Remus sighed. “If we can’t make this happen by will, how will you handle this?”

“We can though.”

Remus just nodded. There was no point arguing with Sirius. He wasn’t sure whether the quality in question was unstoppable optimism or just simply hard headedness. Remus considered his friend, watching him sip a mug of tea. He wondered what was going on in Sirius’ mind. Discovering that would be impossible, he knew; Remus shook his head as if to clear it and went back to the large, leather bound tome in front of him, searching for answers. 

\---

Two weeks later, Padfoot panted beside him. 

“Good, now try again,” Remus encouraged, and Sirius stood beside him, again completely nude and still panting but this time more from exertion. Remus studied the wall hard, trying to ignore how Sirius’ body was slightly glistening, how his hair clung to his neck where he missed small pieces as he pulled it up into a ponytail. He definitely didn’t look below waist level. Remus’ mouth suddenly felt dry. 

“Okay, enough with the quick changing.” Sirius pleaded. “Let me just call it a day, please? Jesus Christ.”

“Fine, fine.” Remus sighed and hauled himself up off the bed, heading to the kitchen. He tossed Sirius his sweatpants on the way out. He had still not gotten used to how Sirius’ clothes fell off of Padfoot and remained in a heap on the floor during transformations. It had become unbearably awkward for him, especially since Sirius seemed not to mind at all anymore. 

Remus chopped ingredients absentmindedly, offering only enough focus to not slice his fingers. His mind was entirely preoccupied by Sirius and his strange circumstances. And possibly his biceps, if Remus were to be honest with himself. Sirius looked just as good as when they had been in school, better even. He wore the twelve years well, perhaps in part due to the fact that he had spent them as a dog. Remus felt even more self conscious than usual, acutely aware of his thin frame and the deep bruises under his eyes. The past twelve years had not been any kinder to him than the ones so long ago when he and Sirius had been close. His illness and his internal struggle had left him scarred as well, though he had been scarred back in their school days.

“So what’s dinner, snookums?” Sirius still had his old habit of calling all his friends by pet names, and the action never ceased to bring a rosy blush to Remus’ gaunt features. 

“Kibble, if you aren’t careful.” Remus retorted.

“Oh come on, you never even give Padfoot kibble! I don’t even think you own kibble! You spoil me.” Sirius pouted, his eyes dark and glowing. Pretend pleading, he stuck out his lower lip and held up his clasped hands to mock beg. “Please don’t be cruel, babycakes.”

Remus blew out a heavy sigh. Sirius would never really change, would he? He was still the same, and that introduced a problem for Remus. He had fallen for someone nearly 20 years ago now, and here he was again but even more infuriatingly loveable than Remus remembered. Perhaps the nostalgia was messing with his brain. It must be, he decided, and he focused on the onion. 

Remus couldn’t stand for too long, but he could manage quick meals. Tonight he felt especially drained, so he threw as many vegetables as he could find into a pot and made a soup. With crusty bread he had found on clearance, it actually tasted alright, despite being eaten from mugs at the sink so as not to spill on the table and ruin the old books spread across it. He was aware of Sirius watching him from the doorway, leaned against it casually in a way that made Remus swallow hard. 

“Have you considered mobility aids?” 

Remus didn’t know what to say. The question came from nowhere it seemed, though it was probably just that Sirius had noticed Remus beginning to limp and lean heavily on the counters as he cleaned up the dishes. 

“Well. I mean, yes, but I don’t leave the house much and this space is so small I don’t see the use.”

“Wouldn’t it help you not hurt as bad? I mean, if you even just had a cane, you could go out more often, and-”

“I don’t want to go out more.” Remus sounded decisive for once, his choice final.

“Now why not? When I was Padfoot you took me to the park, the grocery store, plenty of places. Why did that stop?”

Remus felt himself snap without meaning to. 

“Because then I had a service dog; now I don’t, okay?”

Sirius went quiet. The tone in the room had shifted to a tense silence that made Remus wish he had kept quiet. Not knowing what to say, Remus turned to wash the mugs. A quiet swish from the curtain was the only warning that Sirius had retreated to the bedroom. 

As shitty as he felt admitting it, he had meant it. Having a service dog had helped him so much. He had been able to go out and sit on a bench and watch Padfoot play, and hobble to the car afterwards. He had been able to count on Padfoot to remind him not to spend too long at the grocery store so he wouldn’t wear himself out in the midst of shopping. It had been such a benefit to have a service dog. And human Sirius was- well, none of that. He was a good friend and fun to be around, but his service dog training seemed to go out the window as soon as he became human, and Remus missed his furry companion. 

He supposed it was generally a bad idea to have said that to Sirius though. Remus was all too aware of how hurt Sirius must be. His friend was nearly never at a loss for words. Even more seldom did he run from conflict- usually he would stand his ground and defend himself tooth and nail. 

Remus’ knees finally buckled and he tried to catch himself on the counter’s edge on the way down. He succeeded only in pulling down the cutting board on his head, and as his vision began to swim from a combination of his exhaustion and the blow, he thought he heard quiet sniffles coming through the curtain.


	4. Are These Feelings?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are those some feeeeeeeelings i spy? No, just more drama.

“Remus? Remus?” His name being frantically called is what brought him back. Remus had a pounding headache and his entire body ached. He was curled on the kitchen floor, having been too dizzy and disoriented to find his way off the tile when he had fallen. Remus didn’t know how long he had been out for, but he felt no more rested after falling asleep on the cold floor than when he had first landed there. 

“Here, let’s get you to bed.” Sirius lifted him bodily, easier than he had anticipated, from the ground, and Remus’ weak muscles gave in. His head slipped against Sirius’ shoulder, and as embarrassed as he felt to be this vulnerable, he didn’t have the energy to protest. Sirius carried Remus through the curtain and set him down gentler than anticipated on the small bed. 

“Do you need some water?” Remus could only nod. His throat and mouth felt like they were full of sand. Sirius turned and Remus closed his eyes, and it seemed only moments later Sirius was touching his shoulder gently, waking him from his unplanned doze and handing him a cup of water. Remus drank deeply, draining the cup in just a few gulps, and handed it back to Sirius with shaking fingers. 

“Thanks.” Remus rasped, his throat feeling drier than before. He remembered Sirius’ face earlier, how he had seemed to close off. And he was still being so kind… tears pricked Remus’ eyes. He didn’t know how to apologize; the words wouldn’t come.

“Look, I’m-” Sirius cut him off with a look.

“Let’s not make this awkward. I know you didn’t mean it. Let’s just move on.” Sirius spoke with a finality that made Remus shut his mouth even though it seemed it wasn’t as okay as he said. Sirius’ mouth was a tight line, and he looked away. “Do you need anything else?”

Remus could only shake his head. 

“Just, what time is it?”

Sirius responded with a yawn. 

“Middle of the night. I woke up to piss and you weren’t there.” 

Remus couldn’t stop his blush. He hadn’t let Sirius sleep on the floor, that felt wrong. So they’d been sharing his full size mattress, Sirius’ toes sticking off the end every night. He hadn’t realized how much of a routine it must have become to both of them. 

As Sirius curled beside him, he felt himself finally relax fully. Soft breathing lulled him back to sleep, and when he woke again daylight shone through the curtains over his window.


End file.
